On Thursday, April 17th, children’s charity St Christopher’s will release its annual Spring newsletter, Opening Doors. This edition highlights how St Christopher’s turns their houses into homes for children and young people in care.

The charity, which has a rich history of supporting children and young people since 1870, provides quality children’s homes, supported housing, fostering and other specialist services and promotes lifelong learning and thriving for all those in their care.

St Christopher’s unique approach ensures that young people under their care can be safe, loved, and happy, and achieve their goals during and after their time with them. To achieve this, the charity learns and develops alongside young people, using emotional intelligence to create relationships and offering creative, practical activities that encourage young people to learn and grow.

St Christopher’s supports young people in their journey into adulthood, from life skills training to support in the world of work to creating a link to the home once they have left.

One story featured in Opening Doors is last summer’s camping trip, where young people stepped out of their comfort zones to try something new. For Leon, who had never camped before, it was more than just a trip. It was an unforgettable experience that opened his eyes to new possibilities:

“This was my best day since I came to the UK. I’ve seen this in movies but not in real life.”

Experiences like these help young people build confidence, friendships, and lasting memories. Please consider donating £35 today to help St Christopher’s give more children and young people like Leon the chance to thrive.

You can read Opening Doors, donate and find out more here.

Are you looking for a job working with children and with flexibility that could fit alongside you work and family commitments? 
​
If so, this job could be for you.  

We are looking to recruit individuals who have the desire to support looked after children and their foster families. 

As a Fostering Support Worker (Bank) you would work closely with the supervising social workers, local authorities and other professionals to support foster placements.  

You would have the ability to manage your availability.

The role will involve:

• Planning and implementing appropriate activities to meet the individual needs of looked after children
• Running support groups, both for looked after children and birth children
• Providing support sessions during the day, evenings or weekends
• Transporting young people to activities and appointments and supervising family contact sessions
• Appropriate training will be provided to assist in this role.
• Applicants should have
• Experience of working with children and young people in a paid or voluntary capacity
• Experience of administrative work including data entry and report writing
• Ability to work with challenging behaviour and resolve conflict
• Ability to maintain personal and professional boundaries
• Good communication and administrative skills and the ability to build and sustain sound professional relationships

Click here for full job details

Hello everyone,

As we move into the second year of our five-year strategic plan, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on all the great work happening across the organisation. Understandably, much of the focus so far has been on strengthening our financial sustainability and delivering excellence, as part of our ‘Foundations and Focus’ priority. But today, I want to shine a light on another vital area of our strategy—our ‘People and Promises’ commitment.

At St Christopher’s, we aspire to be an ever more inclusive organisation, where diversity in all its forms is recognised and celebrated, and where discrimination and oppression are actively challenged. Our values drive our behaviours, and our behaviours shape our culture—something we are embedding at the heart of our 2024-2029 Strategy.

We are on a continuous journey of learning and improvement when it comes to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), and we want to ensure that equality is embedded in everything we do. A key part of this is creating a strong sense of belonging—so that we can attract and retain talented people, hear and respond to the needs of our team.

Click here to read the full article

Are you looking for a job working with children and with flexibility that could fit alongside you work and family commitments? 

If so, this job could be for you.  

We are looking to recruit individuals who have the desire to support looked after children and their foster families. 

As a Fostering Support Worker (Bank) you would work closely with the supervising social workers, local authorities and other professionals to support foster placements.  

You would have the ability to manage your availability.

The role will involve:

• Planning and implementing appropriate activities to meet the individual needs of looked after children
• Running support groups, both for looked after children and birth children
• Providing support sessions during the day, evenings or weekends
• Transporting young people to activities and appointments and supervising family contact sessions
• Appropriate training will be provided to assist in this role.
• Applicants should have
• Experience of working with children and young people in a paid or voluntary capacity
• Experience of administrative work including data entry and report writing
• Ability to work with challenging behaviour and resolve conflict
• Ability to maintain personal and professional boundaries
• Good communication and administrative skills and the ability to build and sustain sound professional relationships
• Recruitment Process

Click here for full job details 

Location: Fostering Eastern Region, Chelmsford
Salary: £11.95 per hour
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Contract Type: Zero Hours

Specific Hours: Variable hours (Zero hours Contract)

Closing Date: 23 March 2025

​Are you looking for a job working with children and with flexibility that could fit alongside you work and family commitments? 

If so, this job could be for you.  

We are looking to recruit individuals who have the desire to support looked after children and their foster families. 

As a Fostering Support Worker (Bank) you would work closely with the supervising social workers, local authorities and other professionals to support foster placements.  

You would have the ability to manage your availability.

The role will involve:

• Planning and implementing appropriate activities to meet the individual needs of looked after children
• Running support groups, both for looked after children and birth children
• Providing support sessions during the day, evenings or weekends
• Transporting young people to activities and appointments and supervising family contact sessions
• Appropriate training will be provided to assist in this role.
• Applicants should have
• Experience of working with children and young people in a paid or voluntary capacity
• Experience of administrative work including data entry and report writing
• Ability to work with challenging behaviour and resolve conflict
• Ability to maintain personal and professional boundaries
• Good communication and administrative skills and the ability to build and sustain sound professional relationships

Click here for full job details 

We have a fantastic opportunity to join our team and a growing fostering service in the Eastern Region where you will be able to contribute to achieving positive results for young people.  

As a Supervising Social Worker, you will contribute to the growth and development of St Christopher’s fostering services by playing a key role in the recruitment, training and assessment of foster carers and by building positive relationships with referring authorities and other professionals.

Applicants should have:

• CQSW, DipSW, BA Social Work or equivalent professional qualification, and registration with the Health and Care Professions Care Council (HCPC).
• Experience of working in fostering or adoption.
• Knowledge of relevant child care legislation.
• Ability to manage your caseload effectively and to plan and priorities work to meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication, motivation and team work skills.
• Ability to travel independently to all areas required by job responsibilities.
• Passion for building brighter futures for vulnerable young people and delivering the highest quality services possible.

Click here for full job details 

Location: Stevenage Office with Hybrid working, Carers in Essex and Peterborough

Salary: Up to £43,316 depending on experience

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 12 March 2025

We have a fantastic opportunity to join our team and a growing fostering service in the Eastern Region where you will be able to contribute to achieving positive results for young people.  

About the Role
As a Supervising Social Worker, you will contribute to the growth and development of St Christopher’s fostering services by playing a key role in the recruitment, training and assessment of foster carers and by building positive relationships with referring authorities and other professionals.

Applicants should have:

• CQSW, DipSW, BA Social Work or equivalent professional qualification, and registration with the Health and Care Professions Care Council (HCPC).
• Experience of working in fostering or adoption.
• Knowledge of relevant child care legislation.
• Ability to manage your caseload effectively and to plan and priorities work to meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication, motivation and team work skills.
• Ability to travel independently to all areas required by job responsibilities.
• Passion for building brighter futures for vulnerable young people and delivering the highest quality services possible.

Click here for full job details 

Galina Markova, Our UK Therapeutic Manager for the charity, has taken over this month’s CEO’s Blog and explains why.

As we reflect on Children’s Mental Health Week earlier in February, we are reminded of the importance of fostering resilience, emotional well-being, and stability for children and young people. This year’s theme, ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself,’ sought to encourage self-awareness and personal development—key aspects of every individual’s therapeutic journey. While Children’s Mental Health Week brings children’s mental health into focus once a year, at St Christopher’s, and especially for the UK Wraparound service, every week is Mental Health Week. Supporting the psychological and emotional well-being of young people is at the heart of everything we do, every single day.

For children in care, mental health challenges can often be complex and deeply rooted in past experiences. Many have faced trauma, neglect, and instability, making it crucial that they receive continuous therapeutic support. That is why our Wraparound therapeutic team plays such a vital role in our organisation—not only in supporting the young people, but also in working closely with our dedicated care teams to ensure that every aspect of the environment is set up to promote healing and growth.

Click here to read the full article

A joint blog for the new year from our CEO and Head of Income & Development

As we review our business plans and put new plans in place for the coming year, as CEO I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the incredible resilience, dedication, and hard work that each of our staff has shown. The first year of our five-year strategic plan was focused on laying the foundations for a stronger, more sustainable organisation—one that continues to be fit for purpose and ready to meet the challenges of the future.

Our primary goals in year one were to strengthen our financial position, improve recruitment and retention, and maximise our fundraising potential – all while maintaining the standard of excellence that defines everything we do. This journey has not been without its challenges. We made the tough, but strategic decision to reconfigure and reduce our headcount at head office – to effectively streamline and focus our resource that supports our teams in our homes and services. I am pleased that these necessary steps have started to pay off.

Click here to read the full article

We are looking to recruit a Fostering Support Worker (Bank) working closely with the supervising social workers, local authorities and other professionals to support foster placements.  

The role will involve:

• Planning and implementing appropriate activities to meet the individual needs of looked after children
• Running support groups, both for looked after children and birth children
• Providing support sessions during the day, evenings or weekends
• Transporting young people to activities and appointments and supervising family contact sessions

Applicants should have

• Experience of working with children and young people in a paid or voluntary capacity
• Experience of administrative work including data entry and report writing
• Ability to work with challenging behaviour and resolve conflict
• Ability to maintain personal and professional boundaries
• Good communication and administrative skills and the ability to build and sustain sound professional relationships

Click here for full job details